Tag Archives: Scotland

Yesterday’s in memoriam reminded me of the Robert Burns song that was read at my father’s funeral. My father very much believed in the philosophy of this song, and understood “man” to mean “humankind” – both men and women. I’ve put a glossary of some of the Scots words at the end as I suspect most of you will need it!

Is there for honest Poverty
That hings his head, an’ a’ that;
The coward slave – we pass him by,
We dare be poor for a’ that!
For a’ that, an’ a’ that.
Our toils obscure an’ a’ that,
The rank is but the guinea’s stamp,
The Man’s the gowd for a’ that.

What though on hamely fare we dine,
Wear hoddin grey, an’ a that;
Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine;
A Man’s a Man for a’ that:
For a’ that, and a’ that,
Their tinsel show, an’ a’ that;
The honest man, tho’ e’er sae poor,
Is king o’ men for a’ that.

Then let us pray that come it may,
(As come it will for a’ that,)
That Sense and Worth, o’er a’ the earth,
Shall bear the gree, an’ a’ that.
For a’ that, an’ a’ that,
It’s coming yet for a’ that,
That Man to Man, the world o’er,
Shall brothers be for a’ that.

The top three surnames in Scotland are Smith, Brown and Wilson, and 1 in 8 surnames begin with Mc or Mac.

Surnames developed slowly and had regional differences. Therefore “similar, or in some cases identical, surnames have been derived from entirely different sources and different areas of Scotland. Thus the modern ‘consistency’ in naming conventions has been based on a possibly ‘inconsistent’ starting point. In other words, to rely on surnames as a guide to family history becomes less reliable the further back in time the researcher goes.” I have long suspected that my Strachan ancestors have nothing to do with the Strachans of Kincardineshire and although the names now share the same spelling, the original derivation is quite probably very different.

Nobles and landowners were the first to acquire surnames and were frequently named after the land they owned. The name was then taken up by others who came from that place. As there were many places sharing the same name, this resulted in the same surname developing in different locations but with no relationship to each other. If people moved, they may well have changed their surname.

The article gives details of frequency of Scottish surnames, plus links to tables which show frequency of surnames in particular regions in 1901. In 1901, Fraser was the 10th most frequent surname in Aberdeenshire: the only other areas it appears in are 1st in Nairn, 2nd in Elgin and Inverness and 10th in Ross & Cromarty. This sort of proves my feeling that my Frasers originated from further north than Cruden. Strachan doesn’t appear on any of the lists, so it’s not that widely a used surname.

I’ve discovered that when you have a blog you can get a bit obsessed with checking your stats. I’m pleased to have acquired plenty of followers so quickly – thank you all – and am also getting lots of visitors via search engines. Looking at the summaries of where people who’ve visited are from, Canada is in the lead, followed by the United States and then the United Kingdom. Next is Australia followed by New Zealand. Given the patterns of Scottish migration, this is hardly surprising. I’m beginning to wonder whether there are more people of Scottish descent living in Canada and the United States than there are in Scotland!

This is an academic book based on the author’s PhD thesis, and is also now out of print but I managed to find a secondhand copy. Worth looking for in a library if you have ancestors who were farm servants, ag labs and crofters in Banffshire or Aberdeenshire. The illegitimacy rate in that part of Scotland was much higher than in other parts of Scotland, and this book is an exploration of the reasons why that might have been, based on a very through analysis of parish registers and census data. In 1855 the overall illegitimacy rate for Scotland was 7.8% but in the northeast it was 13.0%. My Fraser family, from Cruden parish, did their best to contribute to that figure, which is why I was drawn to this book.

An essential read for anyone with Scottish coal mining ancestors. Robert Duncan is an academic specialising in labour history. His book goes from the early development of the coal mining industry in Scotland and ends with the miners’ strike of the 1980s. Very well written and researched, with a good focus on the lives of the actual miners and their families. Lots of illustrations and photos too.

Gosh, my ancestors get everywhere – or at least the Scottish ones do. I’m now used to losing track of someone in the census in Scotland, only for them to turn up in Canada, USA, New Zealand or Australia.

In the mid to late 1800s Ayrshire coal miners were clearly being lured to work in newly opening USA mines, and many on my family tree were happy to answer the call. Some came back to Scotland, so it can’t always have been what they’d hoped for, but most stayed so I must have heaps of long lost cousins scattered all over the United States.

Today I’ve been padding out what I know about my Haggarty or Haggerty ancestors. My great great grandmother was Margaret Haggarty, who died at the age of 38 from what was probably typhoid. Not getting far with her parents, Joseph Haggerty and Jean Orr, I started researching her siblings. She had a brother Hugh who married Janet Muir and lived in Dundonald and then Kilwinning, but who died in about 1848. He’s in the 1841 census but only his widow and children are in the 1851 census and again in 1861. Then Ancestry gave a suggestion for his widow in the 1880 USA census so I had a look – and there she was, with two of her sons, in California.

They were living in Judsonville, Contra Costa County. According to Wikipedia, Judsonville is now a ghost town but used to be a town serving nearby coal mines. There’s information about it on the web, as it’s now become a coal mining preserve – http://www.ebparks.org/parks/black_diamond

According to the web site, “From the 1860s through the turn of the last century, five coal mining towns thrived in the Black Diamond area: Nortonville, Somersville, Stewartville, West Hartley and Judsonville. As the location of California’s largest coal mining operation, nearly four million tons of coal (“black diamonds”) were removed from the earth. The residents of the mining towns were from all over the world, and their life was characterized by hard work and long hours. Occasional celebrations and a variety of organizations and social activities served to alleviate the drudgery of daily existence. The coal mines had a significant impact on California’s economy. By the time operations ceased due to rising production costs and the exploitation of new energy sources, much of California’s economy had been transformed from a rural to an industrial base.”

So far I’ve no idea when they migrated or where they were after the 1880 census but I’m about to try and find out. It’s amazing where family history takes you, and what it teaches you about the world and its history.

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